Woman who snuck on NY-Paris flight released, will live in Philly, official says

A woman accused of sneaking on a flight from New York to Paris was released from custody under specific conditions and will live in Philadelphia, NBC10 confirmed.

On Tuesday, Nov. 26, Svetlana Dali, 57, was able to get past security at John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York, and board a Delta Air Lines flight to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, France, without a boarding pass, officials said.

A Transportation Security Administration (TSA) spokesperson said she bypassed two “identity verification and boarding status stations” before boarding the Paris-bound flight.

Dali was taken into custody and denied entry to France after landing at Charles de Gaulle Airport. Officials told CNN that two attempts to send Dali back to the U.S. were unsuccessful after she was disruptive.

Video captured one of the incidents on Saturday, Nov. 30. The clip, obtained by NBC News, shows Dali screaming “Please help here!” and the “United States broke my heart,” while on Flight 265 from Paris to New York.

Gary Treichler was on that flight with his family and said Dali started getting louder and louder.

"Something triggered her to start being uncooperative," he told NBC's "TODAY" show.

After about 20 minutes, Dali started to calm down, according to Treichler. Four armed French police officers and an interpreter were brought onboard to assist.

"She was then escorted off the plane," he said. "Our flight was probably two and a half to three hours late for takeoff."

Dali remained in French custody for several days before she was brought back to New York on Wednesday, Dec. 4, according to officials. She was then arrested by the FBI and charged with being a stowaway on an aircraft, which comes with a possible five-year prison sentence.

Dali faced a judge in New York on Thursday, Dec. 5, and then returned to court on Friday, Dec. 6. She was then released on a recognizance bond (no dollar amount) under conditions that include GPS monitoring, a curfew and mental health treatment, according to a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York.

The spokesperson said she will be living with a friend from church in Philadelphia which the court verified by calling him on the record. She is also prohibited from leaving Philadelphia except to attend court or meet with her lawyer or for pre-trial services in New York.

The federal stowaway charge is rare. Only 41 people were charged with the crime in a 10-year span, according to the most recent statistics from the Bureau of Justice. More than 330,000 people were charged with federal crimes in that same timeframe.

Svetlana Dali's connection to Philly and two lawsuits

The NBC10 Investigators learned that days before allegedly sneaking onto the flight on Nov. 26, Dali filed a federal lawsuit in Philadelphia on Nov. 20, 2024. In the lawsuit, Dali accuses her ex-husband and another man of buying her for $20,000 from Russia. She also accused her ex-husband of assaulting her.

NBC10 reached out to Dali's ex-husband who referred us to an attorney who told us she didn't have any details to provide. NBC10 also reached out to the other man named in the lawsuit who said he never met Dali but is friends with her ex-husband. He said he found out about the lawsuit on the news and was surprised to see his name mentioned. He denied Dali's allegations against him.

In September 2024, Dali also filed another lawsuit – in which she represented herself – against the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC) in Bethesda, Maryland, claiming she was poisoned and accusing the center of not testing her for the poison.

NBC10 reached out to WRNMMC for comment. A spokesperson said they don't comment on ongoing legal matters.

Both lawsuits listed Dali as homeless but included two Philadelphia addresses for mail. One of the addresses listed was for a home in the city's Crescentville neighborhood. On Dec. 5, a man living at the home told NBC10 he knew Dali from church and had let her stay at his house a few times. He said she was going through hardships but didn’t know any further details beyond that. It's unknown if that man is the same person that Dali was ordered to live with following her court appearance on Dec. 6.

The other address listed a home in the city's Rhawnhurst section that Dali purchased back in 2016 with her ex-husband.

According to city records, Dali and her ex-husband sold the home in 2019. A woman at the address told NBC10 through Google Translate that she had been receiving Dali’s mail but that Dali had not been coming to pick it up.